Rotary spare blade safety razor

ABSTRACT

A ROTARY MULTI-BLADE RAZOR. THE RAZOR HAS A CASE WITH A ROTARY MEMBER WHICH IS ROTATABLE WITHIN THE CASE AND WHICH CAN BE STOPPED AT GIVEN POSITIONS INSIDE THE CASE. BLADES ARE MOUNTED AT FIXED POSITIONS AROUND THE OUTSIDE OF THE ROTARY MEMBER, AND AN APERTURE IS PROVIDED IN THE CASE THROUGH WHICH SAID BLADES ARE EXPOSED.

NOV- 16, 1971 HlRoTsUG-u MATsuuRA 3,619,900

ROTARY SPARE BLADE SAFETY RAZOR 5 Filed Aug. 2o, 196,9 2 sheets-smet 1 FIGJ;

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INVENTOR ATTORNEYS Nov. 16, 1971 HlRo'rsuGu MATsUuRA 3,619,900

ROTARY SPARE BLADE SAFETY RAZOR Filed Aug. 2O,v 1969 2 Sheets-Shoot Q FIGA.

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INVENTOR FIGS.

Imbm1 y wu A A A'rroRNEY United States Patent O U.S. Cl. 30-40 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A rotary multi-blade razor. The razor has a case with a rotary member which is rotatable within the case and which can be stopped at given positions inside the case. Blades are mounted at fixed positions around the outside of the rotary member, and an aperture is provided in the case through which said blades are exposed.

This invention relates to a rotary spare blade safety razor.

All the known spare blade safety razors are subject to the inconvenience of substantially disassembling and then assembling the setting part of the spare blade each time the sharpness of the blade Was lost.

The first object of the invention consists in providing a rotary spare blade safety razor wherein a plurality of blades may be rotated one after another.

The second object of the invention consists in providing such a razor wherein the blades are positioned on a rotary body as well as an endless belt.

The third object of the-invention consists in providing such a razor wherein the foregoing blades positioned on the rotary body or the endless belt are replaceable.

The foregoing objects are attainable by the combination and operation of each part constituting the invention, they embodiments whereof will be described in detail hereinunder in reference to the annexed drawings, of which:

FIG. 1 is a longitudinally sectional elevation showing an embodiment of the invention wherein the blades are positioned on a rotary body inside a tubular case.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinally sectional lateral view through the center of the foregoing embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a longitudinally sectional lateral view of a part showing the locking state of the rotary body in the foregoing embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a partially omitted elevation showing a second embodiment of the invention, wherein the blades are positioned on a belt inside the case.

FIG. 5 is a longitudinally sectional elevation through the center of the foregoing embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a longitudinally sectional lateral view through the center of the foregoing embodiment.

In FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 the numeral 1 designates a tubular case which is open at both ends, a grip 2 being provided to protrude tangentially against said case 1 from the center on one side of the external periphery thereof. The numeral 3 designates an oblong aperture located on the side of the external periphery of the case 1, opposite the joint between the grip 2 and said case 1, and substantially extending between the two edges of the case. The numeral 4 show threaded grooves formed on the internal periphery at both ends of the case 1, male screw 6 on the external peripheries ofend plates 5, 5 being screwed into said threaded grooves 4 so that said end plates 5, 5 will be freely removable from the case 1. The numeral 7 is a concave hole formed in the center of the internal face of one of the end plates 5, the numeral 8 being a penetrating hole extending through the center of the other end ice plate 5. A knob 10 is provided at the external end of a shaft 9 fitted through said penetrating hole 8 for the rotary operation of said shaft 9, splines 11 being provided at the internal end of the shaft 9. The numeral 12 designates a cylindrical rotary `body housed inside the case 1, a protruding shaft 13 at the center of one terminal face of the rotary body 12 being fitted into the foregoing concave hole 7, and spline holes 1-4 being provided in the center of the other terminal face of the rotary body 12 so as to engage with the foregoing splines 11. The rotary body is thus revolvable by driving the shaft 9 by means of the knob 10, said rotary body 12 being extractable from inside the case 1 by removing the end plates 5, 5.

Furthermore, grooves 15 which are formed in the tangential direction of the rotary body 12 are spaced along the periphery of the rotary body 12, the base of a blade 16 being inserted into each groove 15, each of the inserted blades 16 being securely fastened by a screw 17 which extends through groove 15 from the external periphery of the rotary body 12.

To set each fastened blade 16 inside the aperture 3 at each operation of the rotary body 12, hollows 18 which are identical in number with foregoing blades 16 are spaced along the periphery at the end of the rotary body 12. A V-shaped spring plate 19 is fixed by one end thereof to the internal periphery at the end of the case 1 so as to fit into one of the hollows 18, whereby each blade 16 may be positioned inside the aperture 3 each time the rotary body 12 is intermittently revolved.

The case 1 illustrated in FIGS. 4, 5 and 6 is open at one side and the flat shape thereof makes it easy to hold. A slender aperture 3 is provided traversely at the upper part of the front face of the case 1. The numeral 20 is a cover .fitted to close the opening at oney side of the case 1. 21 is a roller mounted at a higher position than the aperture 3 inside the case 1, the protruding shafts 22 at both ends of said roller 21 being revolvably sustained by being fitted into concave holes 24 provided on the inside of the cover 20 and the lateral wall 23 of case 1 confronted by said cover 20.

The numeral 25 designates a guide plate which is open at one end and in the shape of the letter U at both ends. The said guide plate 25 is so mounted that the opening at one end thereof will face toward the foregoing roller 21, a fixing piece 26 formed at one edge of the guide plate 25 being fixed to the lateral wall 23.

Further, an endless belt 27 is provided between the roller 21 and the guide plate 25, blades 16 being attached to the surface of said belt 27 each at an acute angle therewith in the direction of the breadth and with uniform spacing between blades.

Between the roller 21 and the guide plate 25 is mounted a shaft 28 whose axial line is in parallel with the axis of roller 21, one protruding end 29 of the shaft 28 being sustained by fitting it into a concave hole 30 on the lateral wall 23. The other end of the shaft 28 is sustained by fitting the splines 33 at the internal end of a shaft 32 penetrating through the foregoing cover 20 into the spline hole 31 provided on said other end of the shaft 28, it being so arranged that both shafts 32, 28 are revolvable together by the operation of a knob 34 at the external end of the shaft 32.

Teeth 36 at both lateral edges on the inside surface of the foregoing belt 27 are engaged with gears 35 provided at both ends of the shaft 28, the belt 27 thus being run by driving the shaft 32 by means of the operation of the knob 34.

The stoppage of the blade 16 inside the aperture 3 at each pitch of the belt 27 is adjusted by providing hollows 38 at the circumferential edge of a disk 37 fixed to the shaft 32 at the identical pitch with the spacing of the foregoing blades 16 and also by fixing a V-shaped spring plate 38 by one end thereof to the inside of the cover 20 so as to fit into each of the foregoing hollows 38.

Furthermore, the blade 16 is sustained inside the aperture 3 by providing an elevatable sliding plate 40 on the surface of the lower edge of said aperture 3', the blade 16 being gripped in position between the upper edge of the aperture 3 and the upper edge of the sliding plate 40 at the time of ascent of said sliding plate 40.

The upper and the lower sides of the sliding plate 40 are locked by providing semicircular concave holes 41 at the upper and the lower parts at both lateral edges of the aperture 3 and by also forming inwardly facing holes 42 at the upper part of both terminal edges of the sliding plate 40, springs 43 being rst fitted into Said holes 42, balls 44 being then fitted into the hollows 41 and biased outwardly by means of springs 43.

In case of FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 the razor of the invention is used by applying the aperture 3 of the case 1 to the skin by holding the case 1 with the grip 2 and by sliding the case 1 in the direction of the grip 2, shaving being effected by the blade 16 set inside the aperture 3.

If the sharpness of the blade 16 is lost, said blade 16 is replaceable with the next blade 16 by forcibly revolving the knob 10 clockwise as shown in FIG. 2, the rotary body 12 being revolved together with the shaft 9 by the engagement between the splines 11 and the spline holes 14. The rotary body 12 is locked by the spring plate 19 which, having been disengaged from the hollow 18 into which said spring plate 19 was fitted at the start of the rotation, is tted into the next hollow 18, it being so arranged that a hollow 18 will face the spring plate 19 when a blade is positioned within the aperture 3.

The invention therefore has an advantage in that each blade 16 attached to the periphery of the rotary body 12 is replaceable one after another into the aperture 3 whenever the sharpness thereof is lost simply by revolving the rotary body 12 without the trouble of dissembling and then assembling the setting part of the blade.

Furthermore, since the end plates 5, S of the case 1 are freely removable, the rotary body 12 can be replaced with another rotary body 12 which is ready for use with new blades attached thereto r can be taken out to attach new blades thereto.

Next, as to the embodiment shown in FIGS. 4, and 6, shaving is effected by holding the case 1 and making use of the blade 16 set inside the aperture 3' sandwiched between the upper edge of said aperture 3' and the upper edge of the sliding plate 40.

If the sharpness of the blade 16 is lost, said blade 16' is replaceable by revolving the knob 34 clockwise (FIG. 6) after pressing the sliding plate 40 downward (FIG. 4), whereby the shaft 32 and the shaft 28 are revolved together owing to the engagement between the splines 33 and the spline holes 31. The belt provided with the teeth 36 which engage with the gears 35 on said shaft 28 is thus driven, with the result that the blade 16 which was positioned within the aperture 3 is replaced by the next blade 16. The belt 27 is stopped by the fitting of the spring plate 39 into the hollow 38 provided on the disk 37. The new blade 16 is securely sandwiched between the elevated sliding plate 40 and the upper edge 0f the aperture 3', since the sliding plate 40 is locked by the fitting of the balls 44 at the upper part of the terminal face of said sliding plate `40 into the hollows 41 at the upper part of the terminal edge of the aperture 3'. The blades 16' attached to the belt 27 may be replaced one after another by the repetition of the foregoing process.

Since the case 1 which is open at one side is closed by a removable cover 20, the belt 27 can be replaced with a new belt by removing said cover 20.

I claim:

1. A rotary spare blade safety razor comprising a case having a transverse aperture therein; an endless belt positioned within said case; a plurality of blades attached at equal intervals to the outer surface of said endless belt; rotatable means extending through said case for driving said endless belt; means operatively associated with said case and said rotatable means for locking said endless belt in a position such that one of said blades extends through said aperture; and sliding plate means movably attached to said case to position, between the upper surface thereof and the upper edge of said aperture, said one blade; whereby said one blade may be selectively replaced from position in said aperture by a successive one of said blades by rotating said endless belt.

2. A razor as claimed in claim 1 wherein said rotatable means comprises a shaft journalled for rotation in said case, means attached to said shaft exteriorly of said case for imparting rotation to said shaft, and gear means on the periphery of said shaft for engagement with teeth on the inner surface of said endless belt.

3. A razor as claimed in claim 2 wherein said locking means comprises a disk mounted on said shaft and having equally spaced indentations therein, and spring plate means attached to said case for catching engagement with said indentations.

4. A razor as claimed in claim 1 wherein said sliding plate means is selectively movable away from said upper edge of said aperture during rotation of said rotatable means.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,145,920 2/1939 Davis 30-40.1 3,137,940 6/1964 Curci 30-50 X 2,661,530 12/1953 Cavanagh 30-40.l 3,001,281 9/1961 Nahon E30-40.1 X

ROBERT C. RIORDON, Primary Examiner G. L. SMITH, Assistant Examiner U.S. C1. X.R. 30-304 

